Ah, London; one of the finest cities in the world. Steeped in history, the arts and culture, and the centre of UK commerce; if you’re looking to launch a new business, it seems like the perfect place to do it, yes? Well, maybe not.

I love London; always have done; always will. However, while the facilities are practically incomparable, there are plenty of other considerations to take into account when starting up a new business. Not the least of them is financial.

Everyone knows it, but I’m going to say it anyway. London is expensive. The rates are higher than anywhere else in the UK. The wages are higher too.

And, this is the bit that my company, OfficeBroker.com, specialises in; the property prices are verging on astronomical (perhaps I should just clarify: we don’t specialise in the astronomical bit, just the provision of office space).

Locate in London, pay London prices

Like many businesses, we carry out market research on a regular basis, and our most recent project revealed that a single desk space in the capital costs an average of £820, which is approaching £550 more per desk than the UK average.

When you’re looking at finding a workspace for a team of five or ten that multiplies into a considerable figure. If money is no object – in which case, lucky you – this won’t be of the smallest concern, but if you’re working on a budget, like most new businesses are, it’s important to think of the other things that you could be doing with that money.

The pros and cons of London working.

Pros:

1. You'll be in a location that could no doubt benefit your business.  There are almost 1.6 million UK enterprises based in London and the south-east, providing an instant business network.
2. You’ll have access to some of the best business facilities in the world – The British Library, endless conferences and trade events, a wealth of financial services, easy transport links, central government offices etc..
3. Being the capital, the likelihood is that half of your potential clients/investors/partners will be already based in London, so it will be easier to arrange meetings. It’s also a draw for international clients and investors.
4. London is convenient. Despite the Chancellor’s efforts to grow a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and a Midlands centre of technology; London is still the UK’s business hub, so everything you need is already there.

Cons:

1. Finance. Office space is really expensive. Rates, workers, transport – everything we’ve already mentioned.
2. The cost of living in London is also higher, so you will need to earn more – and more quickly – in order to survive.
3. There is much more competition. With more than 7 million people in the capital, you’ll not be the only one looking for customers, staff, press coverage, funding, office space (hence the higher prices). London has a wealth of resources, but they are finite and you will need to fight for your share.
4. Despite the fact that London boasts excellent public transportation, it can be limiting when you have to rely on it for everything – because if you live and/or work in central London you probably won’t be able to keep a car. Carrying all that you need for a presentation on the tube, or doing grocery shopping by taxi can become wearing very quickly.

There are pros and cons to every situation, but if I was starting a new business now, I’d probably look to somewhere like Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, or if I needed to travel to London regularly, perhaps Norwich.

Each of these places offers excellent business facilities and the first two are a focus of Government development plans, but the costs of working and living are cut in two.

Manchester: a bit cheaper than London

The average cost of desk space in Birmingham sits at £250, but can be found for as little as £150. All that money you’d be saving could be going back into your business, making your product the best that it can be.

With HS2 very much in the pipeline, London links are set to improve too, but you can already make the journey from Birmingham to the capital by train in less than an hour and a half. If you plan ahead, you can make the return trip for around £12.00 – you’d pay more than that for a day’s tube travel.

Then you can take into account modern technology. Smart phones, web cams, computers and the internet mean that you can talk to anyone anywhere at practically any time, for free. Video conferencing saves time and money. You can outsource work to experts anywhere. The possibilities are endless.

My message here isn’t to London-bash – as I’ve said, I love the place. What I want to do is show the potential that the rest of the UK can offer.  Britain is, frankly, brilliant. We all need to look at how we can make the most of what our wonderful country can offer.

Chris Meredith is CEO of serviced office brokerage officebroker.com.